WILKES-BARRE - Patience and precise execution helped King's race out to a lead at halftime. Laziness on the defensive end allowed Wilkes to crawl back in during the second half.

But once the Monarchs were able to get back to basics, they picked up their fifth consecutive win.

Led by freshman Dan Rutecki, five King's players scored in double figures in a 67-60 victory Wednesday night at the Scandlon Gymnasium. The win improved King's to 10-6 on the year and 3-2 in the Freedom Conference. Wilkes dropped to 6-9 and 1-4.

Wilkes opened the game with a triangle-and-two defense, focusing the attention on King's guards Kyle Hammonds and Joe Caffrey. That forced the other players on the floor for King's to step up and make shots, as Caffrey didn't score until the 9:16 mark of the first half and Hammonds at 8:10.

"We prepared the last two days for it," King's coach J.P. Andrejko said. "The biggest thing is when you put two people in a triangle, three are wide-open. I think the other kids hesitated a bit. In the first half, I think we were anxious and a little too quick. Early on, it would be one pass and take the first 15-footer. When we moved the ball four or five times, we would get layups."

After leading 34-26 at the half, King's opened the second half on a 11-0 run and eventually increased the margin to 20 with 13:04 left. Wilkes then caught fire with a 17-0 spurt, led by nine points from Steve Stravinski, to close the game to 52-49.

"You can't turn it on and off," Wilkes coach Jerry Rickrode said. "We are not having a lot of consistency. We are just not sustaining. What bothers me is that you look at the stats at the half and the end of the game. We end with eight offensive rebounds, but had zero in the first half."

King's managed to regain control of the game over the final 7:42 and scored seven unanswered points after Wilkes closed the gap to three. Caffrey converted a three-point play after he was fouled taking the ball to the basket while the other four points came on 4-of-6 shooting from the line.

"The shot selection in the second half was really good and we were a lot more patient," Andrejko said. "We got the ball where we wanted. The last couple of minutes we handled very well again."

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